Clay Shooting July 2019

What a month this has been! For me one of the highlights was Clay Shooting magazine’s British Schools & Young Shots Championship, won by Josh Bennion who features on our cover. His fantastic 50-straight on the Red course at Atkin Grant & Lang once again highlights the tremendous talent of the young people coming into our sport. The phrase is overused, but these young shots really are the future of shooting, and it’s great to see their enthusiasm and talent on display at events like this. I was especially impressed to see the way these 200-odd girls and boys conducted themselves throughout the shoot. The media are all too ready to whip up a panic about ‘children with guns’. They should come along to a young shots event and see…

The event schedule for next year’s Tokyo Olympics has been revealed, with confirmation that shooting will once again provide the Games’ very first gold medallist. This will be the winner of the women’s 10-metre air rifle, to be staged at the Asaka shooting range on 25 July 2020 – the day after the opening ceremony. The 10-metre men’s air pistol will be decided on the same day. At the last Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, a similar timetable applied, with Virginia Thrasher taking the first gold medal of the Games in the air rifle event for the United States, before Hoàng Xuân Vinh won Vietnam’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in the air pistol. Since it will be the first medals ceremony of the Tokyo Games, there seems…

Eley Hawk is the first UK manufacturer of shotgun cartridges to successfully homologate all their ammunition with the international proof authority, the CIP. The company explains that’s a rare accolade, showing they’re capable of producing cartridges to the highest standards, with superior quality control and consistency in their ballistics. Homologation is the process by which the Proof Houses assess a manufacturer’s ability to produce ammunition to the CIP type specification. The process was carried out over a three-year cycle to ensure that the British Proof Laboratory was entirely satisfied with the process and procedures in place at Eley Hawk. Eley Hawk ensure quality control in their loading of ammunition by regularly testing each batch as it’s produced in their own ballistics lab. This ensures consistency of speeds, pressures generated in…

More than £4,200 was raised for the Disabled Shooters Group at a charity shoot at Eriswell Lodge Shooting Ground in Suffolk. Some 217 shooters braved the rain to head out around the 100-target Sporting course, and with something for everyone it was thoroughly enjoyed by all, despite the weather. One stand had to be shot from a seated position, to give all competitors an insight into how it would feel to shoot from a similar position to that of a wheelchair user. The High Gun prizes saw shooters receive bags of dog food, kindly donated by Marsdens Feeds. The triumphant team this year were the (overmodestly named) ‘Norfolk No Hopers’ who managed to hit a total of 445 targets out of the 500 possible. The lowest scoring team, Charlie’s Reprobates,…

The GB Helice team had one of their most successful trips ever, competing in the Helice African Championships in Cairo and coming back with a massive haul of medals and trophies. The President’s Cup was the first event of the week. John Lucy, on his first trip away with the GB team, won a gold medal in the Senior category and also shot off for the overall title, picking up a bronze. In the same event Jane Bell won a gold medal, Chris Potter took a silver and John Nightingale a bronze. The next day was the Grand Prix of Egypt – and the GB Team’s success continued. Fergus Watson-Hopkinson, also on his first trip away with the team, took gold in the Seniors category. Cliff Goodwin and Jane Bell…

Five English Skeet shooters are believed to have made history at Dartford Shooting Ground as the first squad ever to shoot a perfect 100-straight each. Gary Cooke , Martyn Fleming, Andy Parsons, Steve Leppington and Martin Brister were the last squad to shoot at the first of three England Selection shoots on 20-21 April. Andrew Parsons noted that the fine weather, great targets and consistent buttoning meant the chances of the odd 100-straight were high – but five straights from one squad was something special. Being a selection shoot there was more than an 80 minute gap between rounds. The squad used the time to drink coffee and enjoy the cake provided by England Skeet team manager Julia Havill. By the final round, a crowd had gathered to watch. The…